Reversible latch.



A. A. PAGE.

REVERSIBLE LATCH.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24, 1911.

1,057,663. Patented Apr. 1, 1913.

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COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH co., WASHINGTON, D1 :7

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT A. PAGE, OF EAST'HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO SARGENT & COMPANY, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

REVERSIBLE LATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 24, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT A. PAGE, of the town of East Haven, county of New Haven, and State of Connecticut, have invented new and useful Improvements in Reversible Latches, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to reversible latches, and more particularly, latches in which the latch bolt is retracted by means of inside and outside thumb-lifts or so-called store door handles.

The primary object/of the invention is to provide a simple form of night latch mechanism adapted to be assembled in the lock in such a manner as to dog, when actuated, a latch retracting member at either side of the lock, so that the lock may be adapted easily to either right or left-hand doors.

To this and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of the lock with the cap plate removed, and the upper part of the lock, including the dead bolt and its operating mechanism broken away, and showing the latch in position for a left-hand door; Fig. 2, a similar view with the latch in position for a right-hand door; Fig. 3, a view similar to Fig. 1, with the latch bolt retracted by one of the latch levers; Fig. 4:, a View similar to Fig. 2, with the latch bolt shown retracted by the other latch lever; Fig. 5, a view similar to Fig. 3, with both latch retracting levers in operation; Fig. 6, ahorizontal cross section, looking down, with the parts as shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 7, a similar View showing the parts of Fig. 2; Fig. 8, a detail side view in elevation of one of the latch bolt levers; Fig. 9, a view of the same part looking from the other side; Fig. 10, a detail side view of the other lever; Figs. 11 and 12, detail bottom plan views of the levers 9 and 11, respectively; Fig. 13, a detail edge view of the connecting lever between the operating levers and the latch bolt; and Fig. 14 is an end view of the dog ging slide of the night latch mechanism.

In all figures, similar letters of reference represent like parts.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is a casing of a lock, and 2 is the latch bolt which in Fig. 1 is shown as arranged for a left-hand door. The head 3 of the shank of the latch bolt is adapted to be engaged by a lever 4 operable by a dog carried by a cylinder lock (not shown). The head is also adapted to be engaged by the upper end of the lever 5 pivoted to the casing at 6. This lever is provided with an inwardly extending boss 7. This boss extends into line with the project-ion 8 at the end of an operating lever 9, and also into line with a shoulder 10 of another operating lever 11 (see Figs. 6 and 7).

The lever 9 is provided with a shoulder 12 projecting into the recess or slot 13 formed in the casing into which slot is adapted to project the arms of thumb lifts (not shown) of the usual character from opposite sides of the door, for the purpose of retracting the latch from either the outsideor the inside. The lever 9 is also provided with a slot 14: which is adapted to permit the vertical movement therein of a shoulder 15 formed on the lever 11. Both levers are pivoted on the same pin 16 extending from the casing. The outside thumb lift is adapted to engage the shoulder 15 of the lever 11 when the parts are as shown in Fig. 1, while with this arrangement the inside thumb lift is adapted to engage the shoulder 12 of the lever 9. Each of these levers is therefore independently operable from the outside and from the inside, respectively, by its own thumb lift.

The lever 9 is provided with a cutaway portion forming a shoulder 17 and the lever 11 has a similar shoulder 18 beyond the shoulder 17 and parallel thereto. Adapted to cooperate with the levers to block the same against operation is a dogging slide 19 of a night latch mechanism adapted to operate in the ordinary way and having an upper actuating slide 20 connected to the slide 19 by the lever 21 pivoted centrally in the casing. The dogging slide 19 is provided with oppositely projecting studs 22 22*, either of which is adapted to engage the lower end of the lever 21 according to the position in which the deadlocking slide is placed. The stops 22, 22 are offset from each other on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of the slide 19, as shown in Fig. 1 1. At the inner end of the slide 19 is a tongue 23 located on one side of the longitudinal center of the slide and adapted to overlie and engage the shoulder 17 or the shoulder 18 of the levers 9 and 11 respec tively.

The slide is provided with a short projection 24 on one side thereof, and with a longer projection 25 on the other side. When the inner operating lever viewed from Fig. 1 is to be dogged, the slide is placed with the short projection 24 bearing against the back wall of the casing, as seen in Fig. 6, with the end of the longer projection 25 projecting toward the cap plate. In this position of the slide, the projection 23 is adapted to abut against the shoulder 18 of the lever 11, as seen in Fig. 6, and thus prevent the vertical movement of said lever.

When the latch is reversed and is to be used for a right-hand door, as shown in Fig. 2, the dogging slide is inverted or re versed and placed in the position shown in Fig. 7, in which the shorter projection 2% lies against the cap plate and the tongue 23 of the slide is alined with the shoulder 17 of the lever 9 to thus prevent the vertical movement of said lever.

The dogging slide is adjusted so as to be in such position to enable it to dog the operating lever that corresponds to the thumb lift on the outside of the door, thereby enabling the night latch mechanism to perform its usual function of dogging the latch bolt from the outside when desired, while permitting the inside operating means to be left free for operation.

Fig. 1 shows the operating lever 11 dogged, while Fig. 2 shows the lever 9 engaged by the dogging slide. In Fig. 8, the latch bolt for the left-hand door is shown retracted by means of the lever 9, which presses against the boss of the connecting lever 5 so as to carry the upper end of the latter against the head of the latch bolt shank and thus pull the latch bolt rearward. Fig. 4 shows the latch bolt retracted by the operation of the lever 11 with the lever 9 dogged by the night latch slide. In Fig. 5, both levers are shown free from the dogging slide and both raised by the operation of the thumb lift from either side, such conjoint action being due to the friction between the two operating levers.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patcut, is

1. In a latch, the combination with a latch bolt, of independently operating levers separately operable from the outside and from the inside, a common retracting lever between said operating levers and latch bolt, a casing having an opening into which said operating levers project, and a reversible dogging slide common to said operating levers and adjustable to cooperating position with either of said levers, substantially as described.

2. In a latch, a casing having an opening or cutaway portion at one edge, a latch bolt in said casing, and levers pivoted in said casing and adapted to retract said latch bolt, said levers having portions projecting into said cutaway portion or opening, and a reversible night latch member adapted to be assembled in operative relation to either of said levers; substantially as de scribed.

3. In a latch, a casing having an opening or cutaway portion at one edge, a latch bolt in said casing, a latch bolt retracting lever in the casing, and two operating levers for said retracting lever arranged alongside each other in the casing and projecting into said opening or cutaway portion; substantially as described.

4. In a latch, a casing having an opening or cutaway portion intermediate of the length of one edge, a latch bolt in said casing, a retracting lever for said latch bolt having a pivot in the casing at one side of said cutaway port-ion, and operating levers for said retracting lever pivoted in the casing at the opposite side of said cutaway portion and projecting into the latter; substantially as described.

5. In a latch, a casing having an open ing or cutaway portion at one edge, a latch bolt in said casing, a pivoted latch bolt retracting lever, two operating levers for said retracting lever arranged alongside each other in said casing and projecting into said opening or cutaway portion, a common pivot for said operating levers, and night latch mechanism including a slide projecting through the face of the latch and reversible to dog either of said operating levers, and a slide for releasing said dogging slide in either of its adjustments; substantially as described.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand on the 21st day of July, 1911.

ALBERT A. PAGE.

Witnesses:

HowARn J. FLE'roI-IER, FLORENCE J. RowE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents, Washington, D. C. 

